Lyme disease, first discovered in 1975, is an infectious illness transmitted by ticks. In the past decade, Lyme disease has spread across the nation and has increased in incidence some ten fold. Lyme infection may produce muscle and joint pain, immune system dysfunction, nervous system abnormalities, cardiac problems, and fever.

Typically, if aggressive antibiotic therapy is initiated early in the course of the illness, successful treatment is achieved. Unfortunately, many patients do not adequately respond to antibiotic therapy and essentially become incapacitated by this illness.

New and exciting research showing the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy now offers hope to patients crippled by chronic Lyme disease. Dr. William Fife at Texas A & M University has published extensive research demonstrating profound improvements in chronic Lyme disease patients treated with HBO. These improvements include pain reduction, return of clarity of mentation, reduction of depression, and frequently the ability to discontinue antibiotics.

Here is a copy of the abstract regarding Oxygen Saturation and Lyme:

Author: Fife, WP; Freeman, DM 1998 Abstract:BACKGROUND: It has been shown that the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi is a facultative anaerobic organism which can survive in an oxygen partial pressure of 35 mm Hg, but not in an oxygen partial pressure of 160 mm Hg. When Lyme disease becomes chronic and the spirochete is sequestered in cells, the cells may protect the spirochete against the antibiotic which then is not fully effective. Spirochete survival after more than 15 years of antibiotic therapy is known.

METHOD: Subjects were exposed to an ambient pressure of 2.36 ata (45fw) for a period of 60 minutes per treatment in a multiplace chamber. Treatments usually were administered twice each day for a total of from 10 to 125 exposures resulting in an oxygen partial pressure at the tissue level of approximately 200 mm Hg.

RESULTS: The study included 90 subjects, all of whom had failed IV antibiotics some for as long as 5 years and who were continuing to deteriorate. All presented with Jarisch-Herxheimer's reaction within 4 days of beginning HBO. All except 4 subjects showed significant improvement after termination of the treatment regimens. Aproximately 70percent continued to feel well after recovery while other had some relapse but showed further improvement with re- treatment. CONCLUSIONS: No cure is claimed by this treatment even though many who have completed the regimen remain essentially well or are much improved. It is clear that this treatment improves the quility of life after all other treatments have failed.

In depth discussion on Lyme disease

The use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of Lyme disease was discovered by serendipity in our Laboratory, when hyperbaric oxygenation was used to treat a 14 year-old patient who had developed severe crippling inflammatory arthritis as a result ofuntreated Lyme disease (personal observation). The result of hyperbaric oxygenation treatment was that all pain disappeared after two weeks of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy and the disease appeared to be halted. Since that time, 17 other Lyme diseasepatients have been treated for from 10 days to 4 weeks to see if this was a valid observation. Again, the symptoms of Lyme disease disappeared, or nearly so in all patients, and all have continued to improve in the weeks following treatment.

DiscussionThe rationale for the use of hyperbaric oxygenation in Lyme disease initially was to suppress the autoimmune effects resulting from B. burgdorferi that had caused the severe arthritic changes and pain, and which had made the patient a permanent invalid.This was based on previous studies which showed that it was possible to suppress some aspects of the autoimmune system with hyperbaric oxygenation. One indication of this was that if a homogenate of Freunds Adjuvant and bovine brain was injected subcutaneously into the foot pads or nuchal area of adult rats, within several weeks theydeveloped progressive paralysis resembling multiple sclerosis. This disease, called Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis or EAE (considered to be an animal model for multiple sclerosis) resulted in an autoimmune response and death. However, if theadjuvant was injected into immature animals and daily hyperbaric oxygenation treatmentsimmediately begun, the onset of the paralysis did not occur and the animals reachedadulthood. If the hyperbaric oxygenation treatments then were discontinued, the diseaseappeared and was quickly fatal. Suppression of the autoimmune system in humans withhyperbaric oxygenation has been known for a number of years.Since it appears that fibroblasts can protect the spirochete against antibiotics, the questionmust be raised as to whether hyperbaric oxygenation would penetrate such tissues andhave any direct effect on B. burgdorferi. This would appear to be a valid possibility sinceit is well known that oxygen at an elevated partial pressure effectively saturates all tissueseven crossing the blood-brain barrier. The benefit of such penetration would dependupon the sensitivity of the spirochete to elevated levels of oxygen.The effects of oxygen on this organism was demonstrated by the work of Austin, whoshowed that in vitro cultures in which the oxygen and carbon dioxide were ambient(PO 2= 160mm Hg.), there was a loss of infectiveness, while if cultured in 4% 0 2 -5%CO2,(PO2=30 mm Hg.), the infectiveness remained viable. Since under normalconditions the partial pressure of oxygen at the tissue level is only approximately 30 mmHg, it would appear doubtful if the organism would be suppressed while the host wasbreathing air. This study suggest that this organism is sensitive to elevated levels ofoxygen which are achieved by hyperbaric oxygenation therapy. If the subject breathespure oxygen at a barometric pressure of 2.36 atmospheres, absolute (ATA), the inspiredP02 will be 1,794 mm Hg, and the tissue oxygen is approximately 300 mm Hg. This mayexplain why hyperbaric oxygenation appears to be effective in the treatment of thisdisease.The possible use of increased oxygen in the treatment of Lyme was also suggested by Dr.Burgdorfer himself, and by Schwan.Materials and MethodsBecause of Dr. Fife's astute observation that hyperbaric oxygenation may be an effectivetreatment and a possible cure for Lyme disease, 91 patients were begun treatment atTexas A&M. Of these, 75 completed the treatment at anywhere between 40 and 120exposures of hyperbaric oxygenation at 2.36 ATA, 60-90 minutes per day. Thesepatients were all treated in a multiplace chamber with air and oxygen delivery via maskor hood. At the Ocean Hyperbaric Center twelve patients were treated specifically fortheir cerebral encephalopathy associated with long-standing Lyme disease. Four suchcases will be presented. The protocol used was originated by Dr. Fife, 2.4 ATA, onehour twice a day, five days a week for anywhere from 20 to 200 treatments. Each casehad a single photon emission computerized (SPECT) scan prior to treatment and repeatscans were followed sequentially at 20, 40, 80, and at the end of the hyperbaricoxygenation treatments. These scans were performed on an Elscint single headed gammacamera. The isotope used was technetium 99, either Ceretec or Neurolite. Thehyperbaric chambers are Vickers monoplace compressed with 100% oxygen. In certaininstances after a large number of treatments, early oxygen toxicity was noted in severalcases and the pressure was reduced to 2.2 ATA.ResultsIn the Fife series, 75% completed the series of pressurized oxygen between 10 and 133treatments. All except 7 of them experienced significant improvement or cessation ofsymptoms lasting from three months to six years. In the Fife series, 67% of the patientsremained on antibiotics during and after hyperbaric oxygenation. At the OceanHyperbaric Center one patient, C.Z., had not been on antibiotics for several years and wasnot started on them during the treating for his encephalopathy. The other patients allremained on continuous antibiotics and were advised not to stop them for a period of atleast three months after which time a SPECT brain scan would be performed to see ifthere was any deterioration. Of the twelve cases treated at the Ocean Hyperbaric Center,four case reports follow.